de Gothia and Elijah

[de Gothia]

de Gothia and Elijah hugged each other. Last time they saw eachother was in the Kaliplhin Civil war. Nowde Gothia had travelled down to Barqa to see his son and meet Sir Gideon. Barqa was flourishing again, a trading hub with all kinds of people and creatures coming to the city to live and to make a living.

de Gothia noticed that his son now had the Kaliphlin dialect and was used to the living here in the south. Elijah had som many things and stories to tell his dad while they were walking back to Sir Gideons home. de Gothia was keen to hear how his son had progressed in studies and the art of war.

C&C as always welcome!

[Henjin_Quilones]

It all looks great, as usual for you, but I especially like the baker's shop on the left. The colors really work together well and those half-arches to overhang the street are splendid. I also like both of your domed towers, as they lend a very Kaliphlin feel to the whole thing. If I had to quibble about anything, it would be that the statue and plantings in the city-square seem hastily put together in comparison to the rest. Some plates, perhaps, or 1x2 cheese slopes, might have finished it off a bit better, along with a slightly higher pedestal for Lady Liberty. But all in all I think it looks great, a very vibrant city-scene.

[bricklover]

Amazing Kaliphlin architecture! I love all of the action shown here!

[Gideon]

Great to see another Kaliphlin build from you!

There are a bunch of great details here I definitely will look at fore my next Barqa build

I especially like the ornate windows of the middle building and the minaret

Is that a reddish brown turban 18822 I'm seeing on that guy with the camel btw...? Where did you find that?

Some photo feedback is that I think your closeup photos of this build look better than the overview, so I have some suggestions for improvements for that:

- Take a few steps back and zoom in instead of taking the overview picture at such a wide angle. Then the front would be less "magnified" and the buildings etc in the back less "shrunk".

- Lower the ISO to get rid of the noise, and compensate with a slower shutter speed. You could also probably open up the aperture a bit (lower f-number), since you probably lose a bit of sharpness due to diffraction at f/18, as long as you still keep the depth of field long enough to keep both the front and back of the build sharp. Somewhere around f/9-f/11 should probably be small enough.

[BrickCurve]

Great job! Very Nice use of the sand green on that building, among other great details.

Great to see another Kaliphlin build from you!

There are a bunch of great details here I definitely will look at fore my next Barqa build

I especially like the ornate windows of the middle building and the minaret

Is that a reddish brown turban 18822 I'm seeing on that guy with the camel btw...? Where did you find that?

Some photo feedback is that I think your closeup photos of this build look better than the overview, so I have some suggestions for improvements for that:

- Take a few steps back and zoom in instead of taking the overview picture at such a wide angle. Then the front would be less "magnified" and the buildings etc in the back less "shrunk".

- Lower the ISO to get rid of the noise, and compensate with a slower shutter speed. You could also probably open up the aperture a bit (lower f-number), since you probably lose a bit of sharpness due to diffraction at f/18, as long as you still keep the depth of field long enough to keep both the front and back of the build sharp. Somewhere around f/9-f/11 should probably be small enough.

. Well spotted with that turban. I second the question!

Re photo feedback. I don't entirely agree about the ISO, (640 according to Flickr), the quality is fine noise wise, not brilliant but certainly above average. There is some have around some of the white coloured parts I the build. I am not sure what that would be from. It could easily be dirt on the camera or lens, or some reflection from the light source you used. I actually never go above f/11 for builds of this size, I fact I usually use f/8 for models of that size, though the m43 depth of field is a bit different from APS-C. Using a longer focal length would be the main thing that would improve the photo quality here, I think as most zoom lenses offer their best performance around the centre of their focal length range, this does vary between types of zoom lenses though, generally the smaller the zoom range, 18-55 instead of 18-200 lenses will give you better results.

Hopefully I wasn't too technical there!

[Sorrelon]

Is that a reddish brown turban 18822 I'm seeing on that guy with the camel btw...? Where did you find that?

Well spotted with that turban. I second the question!

Here you go gentlemen, it is from the new battlepack of Ninjago and still new, I guess that's why Bricklink didn't list it yet:

http://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?M=njo231#T=S&O={}

[Tezclatipoca]

Wow, an excellent build, as always !

I am particularly enjoying the building on the right, with this clever combination of azur blue and sand, it's working well together and the design of the house is great !

Sorrelon, I agree with you, that reddish brown turban seems to be one of the newest pieces from Ninjago battle pack. I don't know when it will be release but it's sure I did not find it neither in my current re seller shops nor in Lego shop online. But seing the set that will be, I am sure to buy it :)

Good job De Gothia !

[de Gothia]

Thanks for the comment and feedback!

You are right about the statue! I saw it the second you mentioned it!

Thanks for the feedback with the photos! Hope to read your tutorial soon

I bought the Brown turban at Legoland Billund two wheels ago in the battle pack already mentioned!:)

[de Gothia]

Thanks for the comment and feedback!

You are right about the statue! I saw it the second you mentioned it!

Thanks for the feedback with the photos! Hope to read your tutorial soon

I bought the Brown turban at Legoland Billund two wheels ago in the battle pack already mentioned!:)

[Gideon]

I don't entirely agree about the ISO, (640 according to Flickr), the quality is fine noise wise, not brilliant but certainly above average. There is some have around some of the white coloured parts I the build. I am not sure what that would be from. It could easily be dirt on the camera or lens, or some reflection from the light source you used. I actually never go above f/11 for builds of this size, I fact I usually use f/8 for models of that size, though the m43 depth of field is a bit different from APS-C. Using a longer focal length would be the main thing that would improve the photo quality here, I think as most zoom lenses offer their best performance around the centre of their focal length range, this does vary between types of zoom lenses though, generally the smaller the zoom range, 18-55 instead of 18-200 lenses will give you better results.

Sure, 640 is not a lot by modern standards but there is no reason to not go as low as possible especially with an older camera like this (my old DSLR from 2008 was horrible already at ISO 800). Another issue as you point out might however be that stray light is causing a haze, particularly visible in the center?

Good point regarding the image quality depending on the focal length. My point was however that the perspective looks better when zoomed in (at least to 40-50 mm on an APS-C), and for that not even a ultra-high quality wide-angle prime lens would have helped...

But when talking about quality vs focal length, this particular lens actually seems sharpest at the shorter focal lengths, but most importantly loses a lot of sharpness above f/11.

Perceptual Mpix ("sharpness") vs focal length and aperture, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS on Canon EOS 500D

Source: http://www.dxomark.c...asurements__586

Another reason to stay away from the shortest focal lengths on this lens is that it has issues with chromatic aberration at the short end, which I also think I notice in the picture particularly around sharp edges in contrast

Maximum lateral chromatic aberration vs focal length and aperture, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS on Canon EOS 500D

Source: http://www.dxomark.c...asurements__586

So all things considered I would recommend staying below f/11 and above 40 mm (for good perspective). If the camera is on a tripod or similar go for ISO 100 and let the shutter speed be determined by when the photo gets correctly exposed.

Sorry dG for almost hijacking your thread!

But I hope you are seeing that we are trying to help you improve the use of your camera

Here you go gentlemen, it is from the new battlepack of Ninjago and still new, I guess that's why Bricklink didn't list it yet

Thanks!

[BrickCurve]

Here you go gentlemen, it is from the new battlepack of Ninjago and still new, I guess that's why Bricklink didn't list it yet:

http://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?M=njo231#T=S&O={}

. Thanks for the answer!

Sure, 640 is not a lot by modern standards but there is no reason to not go as low as possible especially with an older camera like this (my old DSLR from 2008 was horrible already at ISO 800). Another issue as you point out might however be that stray light is causing a haze, particularly visible in the center?

Good point regarding the image quality depending on the focal length. My point was however that the perspective looks better when zoomed in (at least to 40-50 mm on an APS-C), and for that not even a ultra-high quality wide-angle prime lens would have helped...

But when talking about quality vs focal length, this particular lens actually seems sharpest at the shorter focal lengths, but most importantly loses a lot of sharpness above f/11.

Another reason to stay away from the shortest focal lengths on this lens is that it has issues with chromatic aberration at the short end, which I also think I notice in the picture particularly around sharp edges in contrast

So all things considered I would recommend staying below f/11 and above 40 mm (for good perspective). If the camera is on a tripod or similar go for ISO 100 and let the shutter speed be determined by when the photo gets correctly exposed.

Sorry dG for almost hijacking your thread!

But I hope you are seeing that we are trying to help you improve the use of your camera

Certainly, 100 = better quality, but there is the convenience of (lighting dependant), of shooting handheld.

I had forgotten DxO mark had lens info as well, I generally use DPreview, although it doesn't have as extensive test data, particularly on older lenses.

I will try to condense what we have already mentioned a bit more.

For optimum settings: (note, these are only really useful if you are shooting on a tripod).

Aperture Priority, set f/8.0.

ISO as low as your camera allows, generally 100-200.

Shutter Speed, in aperture priority, the camera will choose a shutter speed that is (normally) appropriate to the image you are trying to take. You will have to fine tune it a bit though.

Focal length, as Gideon said, 40mm will give the best results.

My apologies as well for the thread hijack! Gideon and I really need to finish our photography guide...

[soccerkid6]

Another magnificent city scene The overall composition is superb, with the angled building, stairs, tower, and minaret Wonderful use of those new Friend's fence parts too.

The top of the medium dark flesh building on the left looks a little unfinished to me, some tiling, or a little decoration there would top it off well I think

[narbilu]

Wow, this is stunning. I hope both of you will return to Avalonia soon though

[Kai NRG]

Great build dG, I really like Kaliphlin builds! The colors on this one are especially good!

[MaasEffekt]

Very nice!

[TitusV]

Again, you capture the Kaliphlin feeling especially well!

Great build, what extra appealed to me were the excellent minifigs, especially the group of fauns (may I ask where the torso of the female faun is from?)

[Gideon]

may I ask where the torso of the female faun is from?

Looks like the one from the CMF cave woman 973pb0933c01

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Beautiful, extraordinarily beautiful.

And I love all those detail shots - great work!

[SerenityInFire]

How come the female faun has to wear a top while the male fauns are free to run around pantless?

EDIT: I must say though, great build none the less.

Edited July 14, 2016 by SerenityInFire

[Blufiji]

A very vibrant scene, the use of sand green works great here.

[Gunman]

Lovely colors used there DG.... Beautiful moc

[TitusV]

Looks like the one from the CMF cave woman 973pb0933c01

That's right, thank you!

[ixypixy]

This is a fantastic build, you've really caught the sense of a busy bustling town. It all looks ace but I just love those domed towers

[de Gothia]

Thanks again!! Glad to read your thoughts Gideon and brickcurve!!:)

[LittleJohn]

Absolutely gorgeous build, dG! The overall layout of the buildings is superb, and all the colors come together nicely

Great use of those new ornamental fence pieces on the sand green and white building, they work wonderfully here.

I do think the cobblestone would look a little better if there weren't any hollow studs showing, and there seems to be a section in the back corner that wasn't finished, but those are fairly minor nit-picks. Overall, another excellent build!